India v Singapore

Pool A

Match Report

The debuts of the Indian team in this Hero FIH Road to London tournament were wildly anticipated by the crowd, hoping redemption for their colors after the trauma of missing the Beijing Olympics. The opponent of the day was Singapore, only ranked 41st in the world and called in at the last minute in the competition. Their very young team was immediately under pressure from a whirlwind of Indian attacks.

Singapore held on for about ten minutes, time for the Indian attackers to tune their shots, then Gurwinder Singh CHANDI and Sardar SINGH promptly gave a two-goal lead to their team and India never look back. Singapore had a lone opportunity on a penalty-corner, but India was monopolizing the ball and started to pile up the goals, reaching 6 at half-time.

Singapore scored one goal early in second period, which they celebrated exuberantly. Then India resumed their one-team show, scoring 9 more goals in second period for a total of 15, against a Singaporean team that finished the match exhausted.

The display of individual skills and speed by the Indian players was greatly appreciated by the crowd, simply happy by the accumulation of goals.